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The Office on State Sovereignty

In NBC’s hit comedy The Office one of the main character’s Angela is currently dating a state senator. Angela, being one for flaunting her self-perceived superiority has made a big deal out of the fact that she is dating a state senator. However her colleagues in the office constantly make fun of her due to the fact that state politicians have been widely perceived as being insignificant. Yet this ignorance and indifference towards state politicians is not uncommon in America.

Before our nation became a nation we were thirteen individual colonies who came together to throw off the yoke of tyranny. Despite this coming together each state retained a significant amount of sovereignty. Even after the states abandoned the articles of confederation and created the constitution they still retained a large amount of sovereignty. Yet today the states are largely ignored and viewed as an annoyance by the white house. There are no greater examples of this than the white house’s attempts to vilify Governors Scott Walker (R-Wi) and Rick Scott (R-Fl). Sadly state governments are only deemed noteworthy when they act in opposition to the Federal Government.

However, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Denny Rehberg have introduced legislation that would change all of that. Senator Rubio has introduced Senate Bill 1009 also known as the Refund Act, which would allow state legislatures to rescind unwanted federal funds. Those unwanted funds would then be used to help pay off the national debt. Also in the House of Representatives Congressman Rehberg has introduced the house companion to Rubio’s bill H.R. 1358.

These bills would help give back some sovereignty to the states and the state legislatures. By allowing each state to have the capacity to reject federal funds they are inherently placing another check on the power of the president. If these bills where to be passed they would increase the notoriety and importance of state elections, while also working to reduce the national debt. These are important issues facing our country and they need to be addressed which is why I urge you to contact your congressman and tell them to support H.R.1358 and S.1009.

Ever since Republicans took the majority in the Senate, the use of budget reconciliation to put a repeal of ObamaCare on the president’s desk has been a juicy apple hanging just out of reach. A budget reconciliation bill, unlike an ordinary bill, only requires 51 votes to pass, meaning a simple majority of Republicans should theoretically be able to pass it without going to Democrats for help.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) made an unusual case for sugar subsidies at a recent event. He argued that ending price supports for the United States' sugar industry, thereby ending a market distorting policy, will put our national security in jeopardy due to the availability of cheaper sugar from other countries that grow the crop.

Whew, it’s been a tough week. Looking back on the last five years and all the harm ObamaCare has done to this country is a real downer. In order to head into the weekend on a slightly lighter note, let’s conclude our series with a little frivolity, the five best quotes about ObamaCare.

It is a strange sign of the world in which we live that politicians are compared to Jesus Christ himself. It’s interesting, however, to look at the reactions to these bizarre proclamations. Let’s take a look at Barack Obama and Marco Rubio, for example. Both have been called a savior recently, but the reactions from the men were markedly different.

Dear FreedomWorks member, As one of our one million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor S. 726, the Decrease Spending Now Act. Introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the bill mandates that the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) withdraw $45 billion from unobligated balances of discretionary appropriations within 60 days.

Dear Senator, On behalf of over a million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to support several amendments to S.493 the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Reauthorization Bill and others that reduce the size of government.With our nation over $14 trillion in debt, I urge you to support any effort to rein in excess spending. The following amendments will set us in the right direction towards prosperity and job creation.

FreedomWorks PAC’s Champion of Freedom, Marco Rubio trounced his Republican Florida Senate primary opposition garnering 85 percent of the vote. Rubio will now face Democrat Kendrick Meek and former Republican Charlie Crist, who chose to run as an independent after polls showed his weak appeal against Rubio.